Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 5.djvu/157

Rh marked that he should see good hunting on the morrow. Douglas, little dreaming of the equivoque, saw the king safely to bed, and retired to his own by the advice of his master, much earlier than usual, that he might be up betimes in the morning, the king having ordered dejeune to be served at four o'clock. It is not improbable that his majesty, moreover, had made him take an extra cup before they parted. As soon as all was quiet in the palace, the king got up, disguised himself by putting on the dress of one of his own grooms, and descended to the stables, where "Jockie Hart," a yeoman of the stable, with another trusty servant, also in the secret, were ready prepared with saddled horses for the intended flight.

They all three instantly mounted, and escaping all notice from the wardens, took the road for Stirling at full gallop. On reaching the castle, which he did by break of day, the king ordered the gates to be shut, and that no one should be permitted to enter without his special order. This done, he retired to bed, much fatigued with his long and rapid ride. His escape from Falkland was not discovered until the following morning. George Douglas had returned to the palace at eleven o'clock at night, about an hour after the king's departure, but having learned from the porters that his majesty was asleep in his own apartment, he, without further inquiry, retired to bed; and it was not until lie was roused at an early hour of the morning, by Patrick Carmichael, baillie of Abernethy, who had recognized the king in his flight, and who came with all manner of despatch to inform him of it, that he knew any thing at all about the matter. He would not at first believe it, but rushed in great alarm to the king's chamber, which he found locked, and it was only when he .had burst up the door and found the apartment unoccupied, that he felt assured of the dreadful truth. The king must have already acquired some little reputation for that gallantry amongst the ladies which afterwards so much distinguished him, for on this occasion he was at first suspected to have gone off on a nocturnal visit to a lady at Bambrigh, some miles distant from Falkland.

Immediately after his arrival in Stirling, the king summoned a great number of his lords to join him there, to assist him with their advice and counsel. The summons was readily obeyed, both from personal attachment to the king, and a jealpusy and dislike of his late guardian the earl of Angus. In a few days, James was surrounded with nearly a score of the noblest names in the land, all ready to perish in his defence, and to assert and maintain his rights at the point of the sword.

He seems to have resented highly the restraint in which he had been kept by Angus and his kindred, for it was now, he said, addressing the assembled lords, "I avow that Scotland shall not hold us both till I be revenged on him and his." The earl of Angus and all his immediate friends were now put to the horn, and the former deprived of all his public offices. It is therefore at this period that the actual reign of James commences, and not before. He was now freed from the influence of the Douglases, surrounded by his nobles, who paid him a ready and willing nomage, and was in every respect an independent and absolute sovereign, capable and at liberty to judge and to act for himself.

James's appearance and character were as interesting as his situation at this period of his life. He was now, as stated before, in the seventeenth year of his age, of a robust constitution, which enabled him to encounter any bodily fatigue. His speech and demeanour were mild and conciliating. His stature was of middling height, but handsomely formed, and "the fient a pride, riae pride had he." He spoke at all times affably to the meanest of his subjects, and would partake of the humblest repast of the humblest peasant in his dominions, with a glee and satisfaction which evinced the most amiable kindness